Read Senior Editor Femi Oke's notes on the series below.

It's been three years since Hurricane Katrina tore through the Gulf Coast and changed the lives hundreds of thousands of Americans. This week, The Takeaway is talking to some of those people and looking back at the events that followed the storm.

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Russian President Dmitry Medvedev is holding talks today with his Chinese counterpart Hu Jintao in Tajikistan. Medvedev says China and four Central Asian republics have expressed understanding for Russia's actions in Georgia. Meanwhile, seven Western countries, including the United States, issued a joint statement condemning Russia’s decision to recognize Georgia's breakaway regions of South Ossetia and Abkhazia.

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This week in Riverside, California a civilian jury is being asked to decide whether a former US Marine committed a criminal act during the course of his military service. The verdict aside, this case is a first for US courts. The case establishes a precedent by allowing military contractors and ex-military to be prosecuted for crimes committed overseas. The Military Extraterritorial Jurisdiction Act, was passed in 2002, but this is the first time it’s been tried in US courts. The Takeaway talks to Steven Cuevas, a reporter from KPCC who has been following the trial from California

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After Hurricane Katrina, colleges in the area, such as Tulane University, were not able to provide higher education, forcing students to look elsewhere for their education for the fall semester of 2005. When Tulane re-opened the following year, the decision of whether to stay at Tulane or transfer to their host school was a huge and major decision, altering lives for many students. New Orleans was still a wreck but most of the freshman students came back to study, determined to be part of their city’s future. The Takeaway talks to Amani Jambhekar, a senior at Tulane University.

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Takeaway convention correspondent Faith Salie sets out to find the truth behind some myths, whispers and rumors surrounding the DNC in Denver.

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While more than 4,000 delegates and fifteen thousand journalists attended the Democratic National Convention, there are also an untold number of celebrities, lobbyists, politicians and lawyers schmoozing at nearly 300 parties this week. So where do the new congressional ethics laws fit in? Takeaway contributor and senior editor for ESSENCE Magazine Patrik Henry Bass follows the glitz, the glamor and the money trail in Denver.

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“Nickel and Dimed,” author Barbara Ehrenreich takes to the Takeaway stage against the backdrop of the Presidential convention and new economic figures that bear bad news for American workers. Ehrenreich has blazed a trail as the “voice” of the declining middle class and the growing underclass.

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Last week Barack Obama taunted the media with the promise of finally letting us know who he had chosen to complete his ticket. But this week it’s John McCain’s term to tease us. The political blogs have been spinning out prospects from months now. To brief us on the candidates who have been short listed is Elisabeth Bumiller, reporter for the New York Times.

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Terence Blanchard is a prolific composer and musician. He’s written film scores for over thirty movies including, “Malcolm X”, “When the Levees Broke: A Requiem in Four Acts”, “Inside Man” and “Miracle At St. Anna”, Spike Lee’s upcoming film about the lives of four African-American soldiers fighting in World War 2. Three years ago Blanchard was working on the score of “Inside Man” in Los Angeles when he turned on the television and saw hurricane Katrina hit his home city of New Orleans. Recovering from the disaster and rebuilding and reinvigorating the Crescent City has been his passion ever since. Terence Blanchard joins The Takeaway on the eve of the third anniversary of Hurricane Katrina hitting New Orleans, to talk about how he’s using music to rebuild the city he loves.

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